Title XXXVIII CRIMES AND PUNISHMENT; PEACE OFFICERS AND PUBLIC DEFENDERS Chapter 578 • Effective - 01 Jan 2017, 2 histories, see footnote 578.095. Desecration of flags — penalty. — 1. A person commits the offense of desecrating a flag if he or she purposefully and publicly mutilates, defaces, defiles, tramples upon or otherwise desecrates the national flag of the United States or the state flag of the state of Missouri. 2. The offense of desecrating a flag is a class A misdemeanor. -------- (L. 1980 H.B. 965 § 1, A.L. 2014 S.B. 491) Effective 1-01-17 (2014) Section is overbroad and is facially unconstitutional under the First Amendment. Snider v. City of Cape Girardeau, 752 F.3d 1149 (8th Cir.)
Missouri Legal Code